Improvement in springs for vehicles



PATENT OFFICE.

CYRUS W. SALADEE, OF ST. OATHARINES, CANADA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SPRINGS FOR VEHICLES.

' Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 129,297, dated July 16, 1872.

SPECIFICATION.

Be it known that I, GYRUs W. SALADEE, of St. Catharines, in the Dominion of Canada, have invented certain Improvements in the Construction of Single-Plate Springs for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification embodying my invention.

Nature and Object.

My invention relates to that class of springs for vehicles which are made of a single plate; and has for its object the manufacture of a spring of less weight, with equal strength and elasticity, and at much lower cost than those made of several leaves overlaying each other, and which object I attain under either of the several modifications shown in the drawing, and as hereinafter particularly described.

The Drawing.

Figures 1 and 2 represent my first modification for a single-plate spring. Figs. 3 and 4 represent the second. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 represent the third, and Figs. 8, 9, and 10 represent the fourth modification.

In the first modification, Fig. 1 is a top view of the plate A, and Fig. 2 is a side or edge view of the same. On the top surface of the plate A is formed the tapering plate or leaf B whose widest portion at G is about one-quarter of an inch narrower than the main plate The leaf B is tapered on the edges each way from the cross-center 0 near the ends of the plate A, as plainly illustrated in Fig. 1. Both the leaf B and plate Aare of uniform thickness throughout or nearly so, as seen in Fig. 2. In all cases where greater strength is required a second leaf may be formed upon the top of leaf B smaller in size and proportion. By this arrangement of one or more tapering leaves B formed upon the main plate A a complete equilization of strain is had on every part of the spring, and, accordingly, varied in elasticity andresistance,

- as is required in a perfect sprin g. These springs 1 are made bypassing the plates of steel through appropriate rolls made expressly for the purpose.

In the second modification, Fig. 3 is a top view of the plate A, and Fig. 4 is a side or edge view of the same. The formation of this to a point at or spring differs from the first modification in that at forming the leaf B at the center D the same width as the main plate A,and the taper of the edges is commenced about three inches from the cross-center of the plate each way, as is plainly seen in these figures. In every other respect this modification is the same as the one shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

In the third m'odification, view of the main plate; Fig. 6, an edge or side View; and Fig. 7 an enlarged view of the crosscenter of the plate A B, in section. The figures from one to 6 represent the plate as it is formed before it is bent into the required shape and tempered; and these figures are further intended to represent a side half-elliptic, an elliptic O, or platform -spring, as the plates so formed are as applicable to the one as the other. In this, my third modification, the plate is fiat on the bottom, and on the top surface it is tapered from the cross-center to the ends, as seen in Fig. 6, and is also tapered from the center line B, Fig. 5, each Way to the outer edges of the plate 1 and 2. See center'crosssection, Fig. 7.) The top surface of the plate A is, therefore, tapered from the cross-center to the ends, as seen in Fig. 6, and laterally from the center line B to the edges 1 and 2 of the plate, as seen in Fig. 7. This modification of single plate is also formed by being passed through appropriate rolls.

In the fourth modification, Fig. 8 is a side or edge view; Fig. 9, a bottom view of the main plate; and Fig. 10 is an enlarged view of the cross-center of the plate.

I will here state that I am fully aware that single-plate springs having a rib formed upon the top surface of uniform width and diminishing in height from the cross-center of the plate to nothing at or near the ends of the.same have been used; but the principle of a plate and rib so formed is wrong, practically, and completely defeats the object sought to be attained. It is a fact, long and well understood, that largely the majority of springs that are broken in use is not so much from the direct weight or pressure imposed upon them by the load they are called upon to sustain as by their sudden reaction. Plainly, then, if a rib of the form here considered is formed on the top surface of the plate it receives the main force of the strain imposed by the reaction of the Fig. 5 is a top (lered literally impossible.

spring with the certain tendency to check or crack the rib and finally break the plate as Well. But reverse the principle and application of a rib so formed by forming it upon the reverse or under side of the plate, as seen in Figs. 8, 9, 10, and the opera ion of the rib, in combination with the main plate A, is likewise reversed; and, while equal strength and elasticity are secured to the plate, to fracture the rib by the reaction of the spring is ren- That this is practically correct a moments reflection will establish; for when the rib B, Fig. 8, is applied to the top surface of the plate A, and the spring I rebounds,by its-reaction, upward in the center,the tendency is to pull the rib apart, while if its application is reversed and placed on the under side of the plate, as shown in Fig. 8, the tendency, under like circumstances, is to upset the rib,andthus most efi'ectually prevent its being fractured. In short, the rib, when applied as shown in Fig. 8, forms a perfect brace to the main plate A when suddenly reacted, while equal strength and elasticity is secured; and it is this principle in the application of a rib to a single plate which I claim is both new and useful and of my invention. The plates A with ribs B in this modification are in like manner as those of the other modifications shown and described,for1ned by being passed through rolls made expressly for the purpose.

The enlarged View of the center cross-section, Fig. 10, clearly shows the form of the rib I think best adapted to the plate in this modification.

Claims.

I claim--- 1. Single-plate springs, cast or formed with one tapering leaf, B, or more, upon the top surface of the main plate A, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A single-plate spring, tapering in thickness from the cross-center of the plate A to the ends of the same, and from the center line B to the edges 1 and 2 of the main plate, substantially as and for the purpose shown and described.

3. ln single-plate springs, forming a rib, 13, upon the under surface of the main plate A, in the manner and for the purpose substantially as shown and described.

CYRUS W. SALADEE.

Witnesses:

G. B. SALADEE, O. W. SALADEE, J r. 

